Spikers Experience Growing Pains
After going 3-3 in the nonconference season, the CU volleyball team lost eight of its first 11 matches against Big 12 opponents. The Buffs were swept in three sets in six of those conference matches.
“This young team is learning with each set that we play,” coach Liz Kritza says. “It’s not just skills and systems but also how to compete at the highest level in college volleyball. To build this program piece by piece, we cannot look at any challenge as insurmountable.”
Kate Russell, above, leads the team in scoring with 11 points off three goals and five assists.
Club Sports Show Up Nationally
In CU club sports the women’s gold soccer team is the No. 1 seed in the Rocky Mountain region and participated in nationals in November, as did the men’s soccer team. Meanwhile, the club equestrian team swept all three days of an early October regional competition in Fort Lupton, Colo. The mountain bike team placed second in the collegiate nationals in October in Tahoe, Calif.
Many Close Calls for Soccer Team
CU’s soccer team defeated two top-10 opponents in overtime in September — No. 10 UCLA and No. 6 Texas A&M — but went into the homestretch of the regular season with a losing record.
In a span of eight matches beginning Sept. 12, the Buffs either played overtime or one-goal games seven times. And in one midseason stretch they went more than 424 minutes — and four games — without scoring a goal.
Sophomore Laura Tremblay, No. 40 above, was named Big 12 Runner of the Week in October after leading the Buffs with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind.
Bosshard, Tremblay Set Pace in Home Race
CU sophomores Joe Bosshard and Laura Tremblay won their respective races in the Rocky Mountain Shootout Oct. 2 in Boulder. Tremblay was subsequently named Big 12 Runner of the Week.
The Buffs swept the team titles for the 12th straight year, with top CU women finishing 1-2-3-4 and the men placing 1-2-4. Bosshard, who was slowed by injuries the previous two seasons, posted a time of 24:44 for the 8K course, the sixth-best ever on the CU cross country course.
Former CU standout Billy Nelson (Hist’08), a 2008 Olympian, has joined the cross country and track staff as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Nelson will continue to run professionally.
